Outlier TV Interview With Rob Hunt Founder Murchison Heli Tours
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Andrew McCombe:
Hey guys, Andrew McCombe here and welcome to Outlier. In this week’s episode, we’re in Murchison, New Zealand, a true Outlier destination. I’m going to be interviewing Rob Hunt. He’s the owner of Murchison Heli Tours.
Rob Hunt. Welcome to Outlier.
Rob Hunt:
Gday!
Andrew McCombe:
Mate, we’re in the middle of nowhere.
Rob Hunt:
Awesome, eh?
Andrew McCombe:
How good is it? Where are we?
Rob Hunt:
All good. We’re actually up the Glenroy River, which is a wee way out of Murchison, about 15 miles to the south and we’re pretty lucky to have this for us to play around in.
Andrew McCombe:
Nice boy’s toy there in the background.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah it goes alright!
Andrew McCombe:
So how’d you end up in Murchison?.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, a bit of a long story. My in-laws bought a property here, quite a few years ago and we came up here camping and we decided that, I’d flown over the place a few times and thought, well, there’s no one else here and there’s all this beautiful landscape around it and no one really gets to see it. So it’s a good place to set up a base.
Andrew McCombe:
So you can came up primarily from a Heli perspective. There was no one in town who had an operation? It was,
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. And so no one in town. So you didn’t have any direct competition right here. So we just thought it was a good opportunity to live here and the place is a beautiful place and a good place to bring up the kids and whatnot. So, yeah, it was a bit of a no brainer for us.
Andrew McCombe:
And where were you from originally?
Rob Hunt:
Originally, I was brought up in Hawke’s Bay, so the good island, the North Island, over there, but I’ve spent over half my life in the South Island and Nelson and Canterbury and stuff.
Andrew McCombe:
And what brings a Hawke’s Bayian to the South Island with a passion or an interest, I guess, for choppers did that start in the North Island or.
Rob Hunt:
It was around since I was a young fella actually, and probably in the North Island and I had an uncle who had a helicopter license up there and I flew around with him. And originally I came to the South Island for a bit of study, a teaching degree of all things.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, did you go to Otago or Canterbury?
Rob Hunt:
I was in Canterbury down there for a few years and went overseas after that. Well actually back up to the North Island, then overseas and came back and probably got a bit tired of being a bit of a hypocrite and telling kids to follow their dreams. And here I was teaching them. And and so I thought I’d better go and follow my own dreams, really.
Andrew McCombe:
How does that process work? When you are telling everyone else, what process did you use on yourself? Or was it just because you told so many kids it started to wear off on you?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, it started to sort of sink in and you have a few things in your life and you talk to a few older people and they’re always saying, “I wish I had had done that and I wish I had tried this,” and it’s too late for them. And I thought, well, now’s the time to grab the bull by the horns and give it a crack.
Andrew McCombe:
So once you made the call from being teacher, teaching others to follow their dreams, you decided it will be a pilot.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And dropped everything. And that was it.
Andrew McCombe:
And where’d you do that down in Canterbury?
Rob Hunt:
No, I did that up in Nelson actually. Yeah. So I learned to fly up there and I went in there and they said, “Well, what do you want to do after you get your license?” And I said to them, “I want work for you guys.” And that’s exactly what it did. So I used my teaching background to get an instructor rating and get a job with them. So it was a pretty lucky start, I guess. Really.
Andrew McCombe:
It’s interesting because as far as your company goes, you do tours?
Rob Hunt:
Yes.
Andrew McCombe:
You do lifting?
Rob Hunt:
Yes.
Andrew McCombe:
Commercial work?
Rob Hunt:
Yep.
Andrew McCombe:
And you also do training?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
So, you’ve combined the teaching side as well as the passion side.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah.
So it’s really good. And it’s, I think the best thing is you get up and you don’t feel like you’re going to work.
Andrew McCombe:
So is that the reason you did it? Like if you were to explain to the Outliers out there or potential Outliers, young entrepreneurs who are trying to get into anything, is that the key that you are trying to identify something that doesn’t feel like work? Or is it more passion related or what was the process?
Rob Hunt:
I think definitely if you’ve got something that’s a passion and there’s an opportunity to follow that passion, it’ll make your life, I guess, for me anyway, personally, a lot more enjoyable. And if you can do that, it’s a lot easier to drive forward with it as well.
Andrew McCombe:
And just when you were teaching, what were you teaching?
Rob Hunt:
Primary school?
Andrew McCombe:
Is that right?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. So, that was really cool. And I really enjoyed that. And there’s times I go and help out with kids coaching and stuff, you do miss it, but then there’s other parts you don’t miss. And yeah, kids are really cool. They’re just sponges and they soak it all up and I enjoy teaching people things and that’s why I still teach people to fly. Cause it’s quite good giving back.
Andrew McCombe:
And so from a business perspective, you made the move to Murchison.
Rob Hunt:
Yes.
Andrew McCombe:
How does that process work then? You’ve come to Murchison, you’ve done a recce beforehand?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely. There was a fair bit of thinking going onto it cause it’s a huge investment. And for me, I was in a pretty good situation where I had people that believed in me. So they’ve backed me into this and put a lot of trust in me as well.
But I think that comes back to your work ethic prior to that. And people see that, you don’t need to go around telling people how good you are if you just put in the work, people notice it and they’re prepared to give you a go. And without people backing me, it wouldn’t have happened.
Andrew McCombe:
Again, a really interesting lesson for the Outliers out there is how do you build that trust? So others are willing to invest in your dream?
Rob Hunt:
I think it’s just go about life in your normal way, but actually showing people that you are prepared to work for things and your history will be something that people will back.
Andrew McCombe:
So actions speak louder than words?
Rob Hunt:
Definitely. Yeah, definitely.
Andrew McCombe:
And then, so you got to Murchison what was the story like? Did you have to scope out the local environment for attractions Or was it more?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, so myself, there’s myself and my wife Ange and my other business partner Graham, we came up here on a few trips and had a bit of a look around and visited a few people. And we talked to a few people prior to making the final call. We had it in the back of our minds that we were going to make it work somehow. And the more we looked into it, the more we became really interested and knowing that it would actually work. I can honestly say I’ve never doubted that it wouldn’t work. So it’s having a bit of confidence in what you’re doing too.
Andrew McCombe:
Where does that come from?
Rob Hunt:
Not sure. I’m actually not too sure, to be honest. I’m a firm believer if you work for something you’ll get there. And so if you work hard and have that focus at the end of the day, I think you’ll achieve most things in life. There’ll be a few uphill battles you’ve go to face, but if you know that you can get to the top of the hill, you’ll be fine. Yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
And market wise, it’s not a big town. Is it? So for the viewers sake, I guess it’s like what 600 residents?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. About that, yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
So it is a small town, but probably I guess the big thing for us is we weren’t really focusing on the town itself, they’re really great supportive town. We try and get behind them as much as we can and community things, but going through the passers by, and that’s why we’ve built our hanger right on the main road. So you get a lot of people seeing it as they go past and that’s been great advertising for us, but it’s what’s around us that makes the the location attractive for us. We’ve got two national parks one on either side of us. We’ve got all this remote country. It’s good helicopter country.
Isn’t it.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. As we’ve seen. Yeah, not so flash today, but you know, it’s good.
Andrew McCombe:
So your main customers wouldn’t be the locals, they’d be people from external? or is it more the farmers? Or is It,
Rob Hunt:
We do of a bit of work for Department of Conservation and various people doing surveys and we’ve done the old beacon callout when someone sets off a beacon. We’ve gone out to those.
Andrew McCombe:
It’s search and rescue?
Rob Hunt:
Search and rescue. So it’s extremely varied, what we do, lifting stuff, a lot of concrete cell phone towers and things like that. So it is extremely varied.
Andrew McCombe:
So I’m fascinated by that because we are seriously in an Outlier location, not just where we are right now. But Murchison in itself is an hour and a half from a major centre, which isn’t that major in the scheme of things. Yeah. you don’t have a lot to draw on, but the internal Outlier within you, just new, I can make this work. And like how many years ago was that?
Rob Hunt:
It was probably about four years ago. I started to think of an idea. It really came from wanting to stay with my family because the other option that we played around with, my wife and I, was me going overseas and working, sort of month on month off. But then for me, and my wife actually said it’s probably not going to work for us. And that was really good that she said that before it actually happened. And that was the big turning point for us.
It was making a decision where we could stay as a family together and grow up with the kids and not miss out on basically half their lives, if you’re going away up one month off. So yeah. We needed to stay together and make a plan that we could live our lifestyle.
Andrew McCombe:
Yeah. So, it was quite a defining moment there, isn’t it? Just that statement. I don’t think it can work if that’s what you want to do. It’s not going to work the overall values of the family.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
So it’s made it mean that you have to make it work.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And we are making it work, which is satisfying now, but you’ll get a few challenges along the way, but you just got to pick your lip up and carry on.
Andrew McCombe:
So, tell us about some of those.
Rob Hunt:
I guess the big thing was the initial setup really it’s not a cheap operation to set up and my background. I don’t come from wealth or anything like that. I grew up with mum on the old social welfare scheme and whatnot. And so that was the big challenges. Where is this going to come from? But I put together a bit of a business plan and just a written business plan and went and approached my father-in-law actually, and said, “What do you think about this?” And he came back within half an hour and said, ” We’ll try and do something.”
Andrew McCombe:
Fantastic.
Rob Hunt:
And the whole thing, and I remember him saying to me, is that, “I’m backing you because of what we’ve seen in the past.” So it was a really big compliment, I thought. And it meant a lot to me to have someone to say, “Yeah, I’ll invest in you.”
Andrew McCombe:
Yeah. And so did he have any knowledge around choppers or
Rob Hunt:
Not really, no. Well, he did, no, yeah, he had a a private license at one stage there, but as far as the commercial side of the operation, no, not a lot. And that’s where he is put a huge amount of faith in what we are doing here.
Andrew McCombe:
Does he have a knowledge in business or in
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, yeah, he does. He’s involved in tourism. On the board of a fairly major company in New Zealand and that was initially our main focus was the tourism side of it. Yeah. But I guess for anyone that is starting something, don’t get completely set on one direction, be able to change. And that’s what we’ve done. Is we’ve evolved and we keep looking for things to do, like how can we change? How can we make things better and what hasn’t worked, can we drop that and try something else?
Andrew McCombe:
Do you look at your local environment, potential local market for ideas in that relation ?
Rob Hunt:
Definitely. Well, we talked to the locals here and they’ve asked us would we be interested in doing these various types of jobs? And if we could focus on that it’d helped the locals around here, which has been, it’s been quite good and that’s new directions that we’ll try and take off on.
Andrew McCombe:
And what are some of the main things that you do? I know we mentioned the the categories, but just explain a bit more depth in each of those areas.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. I guess it’s just so varied. Like one day we’ll be carting passengers around to look at things in the hills or we might be lifting and building equipment for huts, remote huts in the back country. Or in the summer we might get called to a fire. So we might have to go and put out fires and whatnot. And it’s extremely varied. And we meet a lot of really good people while we’re doing it. So it’s always interesting.
Andrew McCombe:
Absolutely. Like, is it foreign tourism? Is it local tourism that’s the main? Other than the commercial work.
Rob Hunt:
Commercial stuff? Probably. Well at the moment, it’s definitely local tourism. So a lot of Kiwis who we are actually exploring their backyard and having to look around and seeing what’s there. And the good thing about where we are is that it’s a place that’s relatively unknown. So it’s really easy to impress people when you do take them flying cause they just go ” Wow! we didn’t know this was here.”
Andrew McCombe:
I used to come up here every Christmas or through here, they call it, what do they call it?
Rob Hunt:
A pie ‘n’ pee.
Andrew McCombe:
A pie ‘n’ a pee stop. It is, really isn’t it? On the way to somewhere else. So Kaiteri in my situation, but just being here for the last few days and you showing us around it’s I guess, the perception is you go through a one lane town. One main road. And it looks like, I know there’s some nice rivers and that around, but until you get above it, and you can see the whole scheme of things, the scenery around here is world class.
Rob Hunt:
It’s fantastic. And it’s so raw and untouched and there’s a lot away from the main roads and if you stopped and looked at Murchison itself, you look at the tourism outfits and there’s rafting, kayaking the jet boating, the tramping and the hunting and the fishing, and the list goes on and on. And it’s just so remote but it’s actually quite close too.
Andrew McCombe:
Absolutely. Especially when you got the big bird behind us.
Rob Hunt:
She makes getting places pretty easy.
Andrew McCombe:
Absolutely. So one thing that keeps coming to me is, it’s really interesting there was never an operation in town. Never a Heli operation?
Rob Hunt:
No, I believe there has been a few people in the past that have actually tried a few things. And I guess the timing probably wasn’t right for a few of them or the scale of which they’ve done it. We kind of went in and went, “Right, we are going to put everything into it and do it properly.” And so we had to build a hangar and make it look pretty and a fair bit of earthworks, and then moving around dirt. So, it’s the old story “buy once, cry once”, you know.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, it’s also, if you build it, they will come. So there was nothing here prior, you’re the only one in town now, but because you’re the Outlier in town eg: the only one, people are coming to you now, aren’t they? They know we need help with a rescue or a fire, or some hunting or whatever, who’s going to help us? It’s funny cause normally they talk about never build a business without the market. Yeah. But you’ve almost created a market haven’t you?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And you build it and they’ll come. Hopefully.
Andrew McCombe:
And hopefully keep coming more and more.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. More and more. And we’ve found over the years that we’ve been here way into our fourth year of business now. And in the first year I was saying to you this morning that the big machine, the one sitting behind us here, it didn’t really do a lot in the first year, there were lots of small jobs. But I knew I had a bit of a market for the training side of it when I was teaching people to fly.
And that wee machine that we have got that created a lot of business itself. And especially in the commercial side and people not knowing you when you come to a new town like, “Who’s this? Who’s this guy? What’s he done before? And so it takes a few years to build up that client base and also create a bit of trust as wel,l cause you are in this game here, you’re putting people’s lives in your hands, just building that good reputation.
Andrew McCombe:
So you were new to town as well. So how do you build trust when you get to a new environment?
Rob Hunt:
Well, for us, I think, and I’ve said this to a few people, having it was a real plus for us having young kids in the town because automatically we’re involved in the school when our kids play sport and I like my sport and rugby club and bits and pieces like that. So getting involved in the community, and putting your hand up, not hand out, is a big thing. And people see that.
Andrew McCombe:
Just want to say that again for the viewers?
Rob Hunt:
Hand up not hand out.
Andrew McCombe:
It’s very important. Isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
It is. And I’m a firm believer in it and I think it’s a really important thing. If you want people to have a bit of faith in you as well, there’s nothing worse than someone who’s just going around with a handout all the time and not prepared to do anything for it, in my opinion.
Andrew McCombe:
Well it’s about value, isn’t it? If you can show value and provide value first, Law of reciprocation, people feel compelled to give value back don’t they, in some way?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Definitely. And I’m not expecting anything back either. It’s just what we do. We don’t want to be those people that take, take take and it’s satisfying we can act when we are in a position to be able to support local events or community initiatives as well.
Andrew McCombe:
So I hear you sponsor one of the holes at the local golf club.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely. Yep. That’s good. It’s quite good, cause that hole looks up to our hangar and I muck around on the golf course, but not any good at it.
Andrew McCombe:
On Friday nights I hear.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. It’s good. Yeah. So good fun. And that’s another way you are socializing and getting out there. And I think in a small community, it’s a lot easier to do as well because you’re in a small pool and everyone talks and that’s good. Don’t be a Dick!
Andrew McCombe:
Well, there’s a Kiwi saying that is “Don’t be a wanker cause we don’t like wankers.”
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Exactly. And don’t think you’re better than what you are.
Andrew McCombe:
And that helps connect a lot faster, doesn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. And just being a bit humble about things, go about your daily job, and do a good job and people will support you and they’ll talk to someone else and then the next job will come in.
Andrew McCombe:
So what I love is you’ve got an incredible playground. You’ve got incredible options, both commercially, tourist wise. Do you ever get out and about yourself up for a hunt or a fish or a…
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, I’d like to go and go fishing, but It’d probably be no, I’ve got a really good friend who’s a fishing guide and he keeps telling me, he’s going to take me Doug…
Andrew McCombe:
Yeah. Doug are you listening?
Rob Hunt:
So I need to get out and do that, but really lucky with a lot of the local farmers as well, I’ve gone out hunting on a few of their properties and which is a great safe hunting environment, you’re the only one around and it’s great to just get out there and do things.
Andrew McCombe:
Do you do a lot with, I don’t know what you call it ,with culling and like hunting to help actually support the environment?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. So we do a bit of pest control for the Department of Conservation and local farmers if they’ve got a bit of a problem there. So we do a little bit of that as well just another string to the bow, I guess.
Andrew McCombe:
What about the rivers and the mountains, which is your favourite?
Rob Hunt:
Oh, the mountains, definitely.
Andrew McCombe:
What’s your favorite peak?
Rob Hunt:
Around here, I love the Natu Range which is actually sitting out that way under a bit of cloud there and it’s pretty untouched and pretty remote and it’s just amazing that you’ve got this landscape. That just erupted out of nowhere once upon a time. So it’s pretty spectacular and hopefully this cloud clears off a little bit more and we’ll show you on the way back out.
Andrew McCombe:
I’ve seen, there’s a cliff or I’ve heard, it’s a bit of a local secret, there’s a cliff with a water spout that comes out only a couple of times a year. What is that?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, so that’s a real original name, ” The Hole-In-The-Wall Waterfall” and that’s only about a five minute flight from Murchison and the great thing about that is it only happens after a huge amount of rain and it only lasts a few days too, it was just a big cliff with a big hole in it. And it looks like someone’s opened the flood gates out up on a hydro scheme when it’s really going. So that’s pretty spectacular.
Andrew McCombe:
It’s amazing. I’ve seen some footage in the local cafe, but big thing for me is you talk to little young kids that’s primary, that’s a very young age to be telling them to follow their dreams. If I had a primary teacher like that I’d have been stoked cause it’s not very common is it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. So definitely. And my wife and I we have conversations about our own kids and whatever the kids want to do if they’re passionate about it. It just makes life so much easier, if they can actually do that. And I imagine I’ll be satisfied with what I’ve tried to achieve when am I older? You know?
Andrew McCombe:
Well, even when, not when you’re older. We flew out here today for this interview, how do you feel? Do you feel, like we’re not really working? Are we?
Rob Hunt:
No, we’re just having a yarn.
Andrew McCombe:
Having a yarn with campfires just here. Yeah. A couple of beers.
Rob Hunt:
Better not have a few the beers before the flight home. Well cup of tea for me.
Andrew McCombe:
Tea. That was it, yeah. But for effect, the beers sound better.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
But what a way to live, right? And that’s what we try to instill with Outlier is it’s not about doing what you think you have to, or everyone else is doing. It’s doing what you want to do, and that’s the greatest way for fulfilment, would you say?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And don’t be afraid to take advice from people. If people are around you saying, go and do it’s probably cause they’ve got a bit of belief in you. So give it a crack, I think.
Andrew McCombe:
Yeah. What would you say to someone who wants to do what they want to do, but doesn’t have any support and doesn’t have someone believing in them. It’s still not impossible, is It?
Rob Hunt:
No, it’s not. And it’s a gamble and the best thing about that gamble is you are gambling on yourself, you know? So you are going to probably put a lot of faith in you and you can make the decisions that are going to change the way that things happen too. So it’s not like you’re gambling on something else where you’ve got no control over it, You know?
Andrew McCombe:
Well, it’s a controlled gamble, isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. It is. And back yourself, that’s what I’ve done, is I’ve just gone. I’m going to believe in myself and I’m going to take a punt here, but I know that I’m the determining factor in the whole lot. Really?
Andrew McCombe:
So it’s not a case of just throwing it all out, baby out with the bath water, taking massive risks. It’s controlled and you’re assessing the risk, obviously. It’s like when you go up for a flight, you don’t just chuck it up, like you’ve go to look at your weather and your conditions.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Definitely. You’re going to go out and you’re going to make decisions on about what you can do and what you can see is feasible. But yeah, you definitely want to think it through.
Andrew McCombe:
With using the chopper analogy like how important is being adaptable and modifying as you go?
Rob Hunt:
You’ve go to do it. You know, if I think if you’ve got your heart set on planning a route and staying with that route the whole way. For me I know that it would’ve failed for us if we’d gone the way that we originally set out.
Andrew McCombe:
What was the original plan?
Rob Hunt:
Just straight tourism. Yeah. It was just straight tourism with a little bit of commercial work and whatnot, but it’s actually, it’s more commercial work and less of the tourism to be honest, which is great. And I think you’ve just go to be adaptable.
Andrew McCombe:
And what’s the favorite for you? What, you prefer the commercial work? Do you prefer the hunting?
Rob Hunt:
I just like the variety. That’s it. My wife will be the first person to tell you that I can’t sit still and I get a bit bored doing the same thing. So it’s having that variety for me. And that suits my personality.
Andrew McCombe:
Do you think that’s an entrepreneur or an Outlier trait that we don’t like to do the same thing over and over?
Rob Hunt:
I think so. It’s people stepping out of their comfort zone. And actually I’d like to try this today and I’d like to try that and evolving as they go too. I think that’s the big thing, is being able to evolve cause the world changes. And so you go to change with the world.
Andrew McCombe:
So it’s not about stuck in the rut. It’s about a clean slate every morning or every week or every year or whatever.
Rob Hunt:
Definitely. And I think if you do feel like, and I have felt that occassionly, you are stuck in a rut, you go outside and pinch yourself a little bit, and actually look at the day before and the week before that and what’s coming up and it’s easier. You think you’re stuck in a rut, but you’re not.
Andrew McCombe:
So how just explain that process a bit more. You’ll go outside and punch yourself in the head.
Rob Hunt:
No, no, I pinch myself.
Andrew McCombe:
That’s the Kiwi accent.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
So you’ll pinch yourself and just what you’re saying, actually appreciate what’s around you?
Rob Hunt:
Appreciate what’s around you. What you’ve got, where you’ve come from and what you’ve got to look forward to. I think that’s a big thing and take a big, deep breath and smile, and especially if you look at where you were, let’s say two years ago or three years ago and go, well, actually, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done because I think when you do put a bit of pressure on yourself and you want to and you feel like you’ve achieved, the personality trait is you just want to push harder and harder and go for more, but it’s okay to sit back and go. I’m quite happy with where I’m sitting. And I do have to tell myself that sometimes and just take a break too.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, that’s important, isn’t it? I guess what I’m hearing primarily though, is patience. It’s not a race.
Rob Hunt:
It’s not a race.
Andrew McCombe:
Because I know how it feels for Outliers, right? I get it myself it’s that internal drive to always want to be doing more, or further, or higher or whatever. But for what purpose? Do you know what I mean?
Rob Hunt:
At the end of the day you’re going to be fertilizer. Do you know what I mean?
Andrew McCombe:
Exactly.
Rob Hunt:
So live your life while you can and enjoy what you’ve got. And I guess sometimes when you are trying to create your own business, you’ve just go to be, you’ve go to back off a little bit too and take time for the people that are around you. And I’m pretty guilty of that too. As you get so focused on what you’re trying to achieve, is that you forget about the things in life that you probably should be doing. And so you’ve go to really, and I get told that by wife actually, she’s just like, “come on back off” and
Andrew McCombe:
It’s great to have a good wife, isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
It’s actually…
Andrew McCombe:
Keeps your present doesn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
It does and that’s it keeps you pretty grounded too. And so you’ve got a really easy to focus on your business goals and everything like that and work and whatnot, because that’s the thing that’s creating your income or your lifestyle or whatnot. But yeah, there’s quite a few more important things at the end of the day, too.
Andrew McCombe:
So how would that look for you? Say, we call it work-life balance or we call it core values. What are your core values and then how do you implement them in your day-to- day life?
Rob Hunt:
Well, definitely family first, that’s really for me personally, what have you got? Well, I think we’re around to make the next generation better, hopefully. And so if you can give them your time and your love and all that sort of stuff, then hopefully they’ll do it for my grandkids as well. So having a job that can be quite flexible is pretty good for our family. But at other times it can be quite challenging to balance, but it’s the nature of what we’re doing here too. When the job’s on, we’ve go to go.
Andrew McCombe:
Yeah. So again, it’s another Outlier trait that we tend to, I guess we build our businesses around our passion, which means they tend to be more flexible. We’re not about nine to five, are we?
Rob Hunt:
No. definitely not. And there’s days where the kids are playing sport and I can just go, “Right, we’ve got not a lot on today.” So off we go and we go and play that sport and other times, well watch the sport and then other times the kids have got sport and I can’t go. So it’s a bit of, win some lose some.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, again, it’s a balancing act, isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. Yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
They call it work life balance. But at the end of the day, it’s about putting in your priorities in first, isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. It is. Definitely. So it’s yeah. Sometimes people don’t like it, sometimes people do like it, it’s just the way it goes.
Andrew McCombe:
And how do you address that from a communication perspective with the family? Is it just a given that that’s how it works or.
Rob Hunt:
You try to as much warning as possible. Like we just run digital calendars and if I have a job coming, I try and put it in as quickly as I can. And my wife’s got the calendar as well, cause she works for us and she can see what’s coming up and we can plan things and we can block days out as well and say we’re not working those days. And the good thing about us too is because we’re the only people in town that generally people will accept that we’re shut on those days and we can do the flight another day.
Andrew McCombe:
So if you look at your journey so far, it’s a four year journey commercially. It obviously started when you were a lot younger. What are the key lessons that you’ve learnt about yourself and that you can help say the other potential Outliers and entrepreneurs out there that maybe just fast track their journey or allow their journey to be a little bit easier
Rob Hunt:
Start planning straight away. Have a clear goal where you want to be when you start out. I know when I first started flying, I said to people, they said, “oh, what do you want to do?” And I said, “I want to have a couple helicopters and a hangar.” And I said it jokingly, but I guess on the back of my mind, that’s what I wanted to do. And at that stage there, I had no plan of how I was going to do it.
Andrew McCombe:
It’s amazing how it unfolds. Isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. And it just worked out, but back yourself, put the work in, don’t think that things are just going to happen overnight too. It’ll take years, well it can, maybe it’ll take years. Maybe it will happen overnight if you’re really lucky, but definitely just back yourself and believe in yourself that’s the biggest thing and surround yourself with good people. And think about what people say to you, so listen to good advice, but determining what good advice is, is a challenge.
And, sometimes talking about the advice you’ve been given with people you trust is a really good thing to do as well. Like I’ve got some really good friends in the same industry that I really do trust and I’m on the phone with them every week. And they don’t even live near me or anything like that, but I trust their opinions and whatnot. And that’s really good to bounce ideas off people too. That are in similar role.
Andrew McCombe:
Yeah. Where did you find those people? Is that throughout your journey?
Rob Hunt:
Just yeah. Throughout the journey, meeting them along the way and just relationships happening, evolving, it’s not like, oh, you do this. I’m going to be your friend straight away. It’s just people you probably don’t expect to be really good friends, turn out to be some of the best friends you got. And that’s really important. And I was told when we started this in Murchison that it’ll be really lonely here for me in this industry, but it hasn’t been. It’s been really good.
It’s been phone call and technology has been fantastic because you pick up the phone if you’ve got a question, especially more experienced people. I’ve got some really good friends who’ve done a lot more than what I’ve done, and they’re more than happy to give advice and help you out when you need it.
Andrew McCombe:
That’s, a really good point for the young Outliers. There’s always often an intimidation factor or a “why would they want talk to me factor,” but the more I’ve dealt with Outliers, successful Outliers, the more I realize they’re the ones who are actually more inclined to want to help. They want to give back.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely. And I think the big thing I found is when you’re talking to someone, you’re not just ringing them for a, I want, I want, I want, you’re actually ringing them for a conversation and those relationships are evolved and I always find there’s nothing worse than when they ring you, they’re always asking for something. And I think the good relationships I’ve got have guys that I trust that we’re friends. That’s really good. It’s a phone call about, Hey, what’s going on today and all that side of it. And then things will happen from that, you know?
Andrew McCombe:
Again, you reverse engineer that process, if you give value after their value and not in a bad way, it’s more a learning way.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely.
Andrew McCombe:
And it’s a win-win and a reciprocation on an ongoing basis. That’s a pretty good foundation for a good relationship. Isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely.
Andrew McCombe:
Rather than like you said, take, take, take cause they don’t last long.
Rob Hunt:
No, no. And you’ll get, you know, it’s about your own personal reputation. People talk. So you know, be, I was going to say something that I shouldn’t say, but
Andrew McCombe:
Well, you’re welcome to say.
Rob Hunt:
Be a good bugger. I was going to use another word.
Andrew McCombe:
Don’t be a…
Rob Hunt:
Don’t be a dick, but be who you are and be honest.
Honesty goes such a long way and you’ll meet people along the way who probably need to listen to that. And one thing, throughout my journey, if someone’s done something that I didn’t like I’ve probably just taken that aside and thought to myself, I’m not going to be like that. When I succeed down the track, I’m going to be able to hold my head high. And that’s something that I’m really confident saying I’ll be able to do. And so honesty’s a huge, important thing for myself and my family and people around me because it, yeah, don’t be that dick.
Andrew McCombe:
Again, I love that cause every person that I talk to who’s an Outlier. They’re observing everyone else. And they’re literally, does that work for me? Does it not. If it doesn’t, I don’t want to be like that. And if it does I’m going to add it to my skill set or my network where I can reach out to those people.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, definitely.
Andrew McCombe:
So it’s almost a fact finding mission the whole time, isn’t it?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah. It is. It is definitely a fact finding mission.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, speaking of fact finding missions, I think that weather is clearing.
Rob Hunt:
Yeah.
Andrew McCombe:
Got a nice little bus there. Should we go for a bit of a tour?
Rob Hunt:
Yeah, we will. We’ll go for a bit of a burn round and get up there in the hill’s further that way are looking a little bit better and go and see some snow and a few other beautiful things around the place and go and enjoy the day.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, Rob, thanks for coming on the show.
Rob Hunt:
My pleasure.
Andrew McCombe:
You’re officially an Outlier my friend.
Rob Hunt:
Awesome.
Andrew McCombe:
Well done.
Rob Hunt:
Good man.
Andrew McCombe:
Well, there it is guys. I hope you enjoyed this inspiring Outlier episode with Rob Hunt for more videos, resources and information, visit www.Outlier.tv or connect with us on our social media pages below. I’m Andrew McCombe and here’s to living the Outlier life, outside of the comfort zone. I’ll see you soon.
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